PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

PRESIDENT - STEPHEN LEPAGE 1ST VICE PRESIDENT - BRIAN KOELZER 2ND VICE PRESIDENT - MARK SCHWOMEYER - NO REPORT TREASURER - CLAUDIA DAVIS SECRETARY - JERRY DAVIS President’s Message

Iwant to thank everyone who volunteered their time to help make the Carp Safari a great event. It was very pleasant to hear hunting stories, visit with old friends and make a few new ones. I did not take a shot at a single carp, but enjoyed the entire process.

These MBA sponsored, community building events have become a staple in the LePage household. I have been fortunate to watch a generation of young bowhunters grow and flourish through these events. Even my 18-yearold daughter, who does not currently like to attend family events, would rather get her wisdom teeth pulled than miss a Carp Safari or an MBA banquet. We have formed some of our closest friendships at these events and we feel as if the MBA is our extended family.

On the other hand, the important work that the MBA does is amazing and I wish you could see the commitment, effort and passion that your board strives for to advance our mission of uniting Montana’s bowhunters to promote and protect bowhunting. And you, our membership, are the most important part of this effort. Thank you for responding to MBA surveys, attending regional meetings to voice your concerns, and jumping into action when your legislative committee requests an email or phone call to the politicians. You, the due paying members of the MBA, are the backbone of this great organization and I thank each and every one of you.

I just got back from a trip to South Africa with a great group of friends and family. We were able to spend almost two weeks bowhunting with Matlabas Game Hunters, who have been a longtime donor and supporter of the Montana Bowhunters Association. This family run operation donates a great hunt to the MBA annually and it is offered up at our banquet. I first went hunting with Willem and Flippie Frost back in 2008. It was my first trip to bowhunt on a new continent and it substantially transformed my outlook on life. Our visit in 2021 was no less impactful. The bowhunting was amazing. The food was delicious and we were able to sample almost every animal that our group killed. The hospitality and accommodations were fantastic.

Due to Covid restrictions, travel was more difficult. We had confusion determining which of the many pre-travel tests were required before leaving the country. In addition, getting the correct test results, in the time frame required, was a bit of a mess. We also had to get tested before leaving South Africa. Unfortunately, one of our party tested positive and had to remain at Matlabas. Although I felt horrible leaving a man behind, I felt a bit of envy that he was quarantined at a world class African bowhunting lodge and since then he has killed an eland, a wildebeest and a warthog during his quarantine. I am secretly jealous.

Stephen LePage First Vice President’sReport

It’s an odd feeling and difficult to explain unless you’ve experienced it yourself. Restlessness, excitement, and anticipation are words that can describe part of it but certainly no all. It’s routine in the deepest crevices of our DNA right next to breathing and reproducing . . .

The need to hunt is as old as mankind. Hunting = food, food = survival. Although no longer a necessity to most, the primal urge has been watered down to virtually nothing in a large part of our population. The frail and strange-looking people who live in the concrete world baffle me. I don’t know if the primal urge lives in them at all and if they felt it, they’d even know what it was. I feel bad for the people who’ve never ventured into the woods or even tried to sneak up on a tweety bird or a squirrel, let alone hear the bugle of a distant bull or the grunt of a whitetail as he chases a doe through the river bottoms. Unfortunately, these folks have a say in what goes on in our world, too, and they seem to have very strong opinions.

The primal urge to hunt for me is certainly not a seasonal thing, as my whole life is spent in the great outdoors in some fashion, but come the first of August, a different tingle starts to zip through my being. Like a pregnant woman in the “nesting” stage, I start organizing, waterproofing, inspecting, and re-inspecting everything that will accompany me in the upcoming months of adventure–whatever that may be. The days are shorter, the nights are cooler, and when the magical day comes, I’m ready and I feel more alive than at any other time in the year!

Those days are almost upon us and I’m ready.

Recently, I attended the Pope and Young convention held in Reno. President LePage and his son as well as a good handful of other MT folks also made the journey south to attend the gathering. It was great to spend a long weekend with so many great bowhunters, catch up on stories, and look at so many incredible critters. Ten new world records were crowned, which is definitely a testament to conservation and the North American Wildlife Model. Getting to chat with folks from all over North America makes me very happy that I live in MT and for the bowhunting opportunity we have here. Anti-hunters and crossbows have ruined much of the archery opportunity in other states, but thankfully the “last best place” has managed to stay strong. But not without a whole lot of work and there is definitely more to come. I did a podcast with Green Mountain Tradcast a while ago and the host, who lives in Vermont, told me that 2020 was the first year crossbows were allowed in archery season. After the annual game harvest data was collected, 70% of the “archery” harvest was with crossbows. Bad news there.

I hope you all have a great fall and get ample time to enjoy the great outdoors with bow in hand. >>>——————->

Brian Koelzer